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Tuesday, March 11, 2008

"Saint" César Chávez?Patron Saint of those who beat the crap out of illegal aliensWARNING! Harsh language alert

Of all the phony garbage I've ever heard or read, this bull shit rates right up there in the Top Ten. Here's some of the article from The California Catholic Daily; (Emphasis and comments mine) “I’m not going full guns”César Chavez canonization effort receives tentative support from Bishop Garcia

An “anonymous Bay Area movement” is working to prepare the ground for the canonization of a saint. A Californian saint. César Chavez.

NBC 11 news reported last week that Chavez’s suitability for sainthood is being investigated by the anonymous group, with at least some support from the bishop of Monterey, Richard Garcia. Asked if he were giving his support to the effort, Garcia told NBC11 he was giving it “my listening support. I’m not going full guns because I want them to make a very clean and good investigation.”

Any movement, though, to canonize the founder of the United Farm Workers would meet with opposition, Garcia admitted. “I think there’s an awful lot of ranchers and farmers who remember the difficulties of that time,” said Garcia. ("Difficulties"? You mean the many ranchers and farmers who had very little to do with the UFW, but Chávez tried his damnedest to put out of business because they wouldn't kowtow to him and his demands? Those "difficulties"?)

In favor of Chavez’s sanctity are his self-sacrifice in the non-violent struggle to organize farm workers, his devotion to Mary (Our Lady of Guadalupe was always carried at the front of the line in Chavez’s marches), and his Eucharistic devotion. Chavez “was a Mass communicant, meaning he went to Mass every day,” Fr. Jon Pedigo, pastor of St. Julie Billiart parish in San Jose, told NBC 11. (Wow, he carried a painting of The Blessed Mother at his marches and went to Mass every day. Does that mean he rates Canonization? Suuuuuuure.... lets make him a Saint already!)

Yet, Chavez participated in homosexual rights marches, including one in Washington, D.C. in 1991. Paul Chavez, César’s son, said of this (to the April 1997 Los Angeles Mission) that, while his father was a “traditional Mexican and Catholic,” he participated in the march because he believed homosexuals are children of God. (And "Saint" César can't differentiate between love the sinner, hate the sin? I guess he failed to realize that these marches were in support of the homosexual lifestyle, huh? If he really gave a hoot in hell about them, he's pray for their souls and that they would reject sin.)

Paul Chavez said his father was an assiduous student of the papal social encyclicals. The Mission article described César’s office, left as it had been when he died in 1993. His library included the encyclicals of Popes Leo XIII and Pius XI, alongside other Catholic religious writings and the works of Gandhi. The office was decorated with Catholic religious images (including Our Lady of Guadalupe) and a statute of Buddha. (No man goes to The Father except through Gandhi and Buddha. The Gospel of César. I hate to tell Saint César this, but the works of Gandhi and Buddha are worthless. If there's a particular truth you search for, Catholicism's already got it.)

César’s sister, Rita Medina, told NBC 11 that she welcomed the idea of her brother’s canonization. “It would be a great honor for the whole family,” she said. “You know, your brother a saint. God, that would be something.” (How eloquent. I'll bet this gal can break the land speed record for saying "you know"... God, you know?)But we have this delectable morsel from March, 2005 via the San Diego Union-Tribune;Here's the ironic part: Despite the fact that Chávez is these days revered among Mexican-American activists, the labor leader in his day was no more tolerant of illegal immigration than the Arizona Minutemen are now. Worried that the hiring of illegal immigrants drove down wages, Chávez – according to numerous historical accounts – instructed union members to call the Immigration and Naturalization Service to report the presence of illegal immigrants in the fields and demand that the agency deport them. UFW officials were even known to picket INS offices to demand a crackdown on illegal immigrants. And in 1973, in one of the most disgraceful chapters in UFW history, the union set up a "wet line" to prevent Mexican immigrants from entering the United States. Under the guidance of Chávez 's cousin, Manuel, UFW members tried at first to convince the immigrants not to cross. When that didn't work, they physically attacked the immigrants and left some bloody in the process. It happened in the same place that the Minutemen are now planning to gather: the Arizona-Mexico border.

At the time, The Village Voice said that the UFW conducted a "campaign of random terror against anyone hapless enough to fall into its net." In their book, "The Fight in the Fields," Susan Ferris and Ricardo Sandoval recall the border incident and write that the issue of how to deal with the undocumented was "particularly vexing" for Chávez.I've made no bones about it... I'm dead set against illegal immigration. But I've never had my minions beat the shit out of 'em. Too bad "Saint" César can't say the same thing.